Location-enhanced services are increasingly common online tools used by many people on a daily basis. In particular, location-enhanced services use knowledge of a user's location to provide an online service in a more accurate or useful manner. For example, a search engine can use knowledge of a user's location to tailor search results to reflect the most accurate or useful information for such location. As another example, when the user's location is known, a mapping application or geographic information system can provide a superior map in response to a point of interest search or a request for directions. Therefore, knowledge of a user's location is increasingly a key factor used to provide a superior online experience across a broad range of services or tools.
In the context of a traditional desktop computer, methods for determining user location are fairly established and successful. For example, geolocation by analysis of internet protocol (IP) address is a common technique which yields generally useful results.
However, in the context of mobile computing, such as, for example, a smartphone, existing systems and methods for determining a user location are much less suitable. In particular, users of mobile computing devices have high expectations regarding the ability of the computing device and its corresponding communication system to geolocate. For example, many users of smartphones consistently employ their devices to act as navigational devices or to provide real-time, location-enhanced search results when hunting for a local point of interest, such as a restaurant, hotel, or other meeting place.
Some methods of geolocation for mobile computing devices are relatively precise. For example, successful use of the global positioning system or a Wi-Fi positioning system can result in a precise location for the mobile computing device. Unfortunately, such positioning systems are simply not available or operational for a large amount of time or locations. Further, geolocation by analysis of IP address is generally not as informative for mobile device carrier IPs. In addition, requiring the user to manually correct the query by appending the desired location is slow, cumbersome, and undesirable for the user.
The above problems result in a significant amount of time in which a precise location for a mobile computing device is not available or otherwise known. Thus, without knowledge of the device's location, service providers struggle to provide location-enhanced services, resulting in user frustration and loss of optimal functionality.